Drones: FAA Issues Long-Awaited Final Rule For Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

On Tuesday, June 21, the Federal Aviation Administration issued Part 107, the Final Rule for Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The Rule comes sixteen months after the FAA issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for small UAS, and is the first step in the FAA's plan to incrementally incorporate UAS into the national airspace. The FAA stated that the UAS industry estimates that "the rule could generate more than $82 billion for the U.S. economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years."¹ The rule will take effect in late August 2016.

What's Included in Part 107?

The new Part 107 largely tracks the limitations and requirements that accompanied Section 333 exemptions. Generally, a small UAS: